The history of the founding, language and trades of Orléans

Before Orléans was a part of Ottawa, before it was known for its suburbs, cultural scene, vibrant bilingualism and local economy, it was a place of farmland, French language and culture, and a unique local pride.

In the 1830s, soon after the founding of Ottawa — then “Bytown” — in 1826, some of the area’s earliest known settlers arrived in what is now Orléans. 

The land was — and remains — the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation. When early settler François Dupuis and his family arrived around 1830, some local historical societies believe he named the community Saint-Joseph d’Orléans after Orléans, France. However, it is unconfirmed who chose the name; other historical records credit Luc Major, another early settler, as the founder.

According to research by the Société Franco-Ontarienne du Patrimoine et de L’historire d’Orléans (SFOPHO), Dupuis was a veteran of the War of 1812, and upon settling in what is now Orléans, he built a log cabin for his family. One of his descendants, Eva Dupuis, was said to have lived in the house without water or electricity until she died in 1983. The house was then moved to the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum.

While the village name Saint-Joseph d’Orléans was eventually shortened, it is still used throughout the community, particularly in the road St-Joseph Boulevard, as well as in St-Joseph d’Orléans Parish, one of the community’s oldest churches.

Records show that the first subdivision plans were registered in 1858, creating the Village of Saint-Joseph d’Orléans, and an application for the establishment of a post office in the community was granted in 1860. By 1880, the area had become home to 131 Francophone families and 43 Anglophone families. According to a census, some of the first Francophone families were the Dupuis, Besserer, Major, Duford and Vézina families, while the Kennys and McNeelys were among the first few English-speaking families.

Around the time that the Parliament Buildings and Rideau Canal were being built, about 16 kilometres away in Ottawa, Orléans was growing, too. The first parish was founded in 1860, when Father Alphonse-Marius Chaîne was appointed priest, and the first church opened its doors in 1885. The church that stands there today replaced the first one in 1922.

Nearby Gloucester had already been established in 1792 and was one of the closest communities to the growing Orléans, along with Cumberland, which was founded in 1798.

Much of the area had been granted to United Empire Loyalists and War of 1812 militia members, but was largely settled by farming families, who established the early commerce and economy for the area. 

Throughout the 1800s, Orléans, Cumberland and Gloucester became hubs of lumber and agriculture, helping supply the booming growth and industry in nearby Ottawa. 

Before it self-governed or became a sprawling residential community, Orléans had already established a thriving local economy. It was built on lumber and agriculture, shaping the community's development as roads and corridors were primarily built to transport goods. 

It was self-sufficient, with residents living and working within their community. The history of the area is a tapestry of the people who worked the land and laid the groundwork for what it would become.

In 1824, Joseph Laflamme, a carpenter, purchased approximately 500 acres in Orléans. His sawmill was located where Brigil is currently building Petrie’s Landing Phase II. 

Blacksmith Jean-Baptiste Duford came to Orléans around 1845 and ran a vegetable and dairy farm. His work was carried on by his descendants until 1957, and the land he owned, cleared and worked now houses the Place d’Orléans Shopping Centre and Shenkman Arts Centre. 

According to Gloucester History, a seventh generation of Dufords continues to live in Orléans. 

It wasn’t only settler families who farmed. The Sisters of Charity, also known as The Order of the Grey Nuns, also tended the fields. The Order was based in Montreal and founded by Marguerite d’Youville. A few decades later, Sister Elisabeth Bruyere was directed to set up a community of the Sisters in Bytown and its neighbouring communities.

The nuns opened schools in Ottawa and provided a hospital when ship-fever victims arrived from Ireland during the Great Famine. In 1885, the Grey Nuns purchased 500 acres of farmland from the Besserer family, which they farmed themselves in order to provide produce to their Mother House in Ottawa. The farm storehouse is still standing at 1820 St-Joseph Boulevard.

In 1954, the Villa St-Louis convent was built close to the Ottawa River as a home for 90 sisters of the Grey Nuns. A few years later, on May 15, 1956, 35 of the most elderly nuns retired for the evening after marking the final church service of the day. There were meant to be more people staying — a group of 16 student nurses were set to start a two-week visit to the convent — but they delayed their arrival to see a play in downtown Ottawa. 

In the skies above, two CF-100 “Canuck” Mark V interceptor jet fighters from the 445 Air Squadron based at RCAF Station Uplands had been dispatched to identify an intruder in the airspace. At the time, the fighters were the most sophisticated flying machines in the RCAF arsenal. 

Once the intruding aircraft had been identified and the mystery solved, one CF-100 returned to base. The other, piloted by 25-year-old William Schmidt and navigator Kenneth Thomas, 20, continued to fly west to burn off excess fuel. 

According to the Historical Society of Ottawa, at 10:17 p.m., a CF-100 fighter crashed into the chapel of the Valla St-Louis convent at a speed approaching over 1,000 kilometres/hour. Eyewitnesses said the jet plummeted in an almost vertical dive, and on impact, the three-storey building exploded. 

The explosion and fire, fuelled by aviation fuel and the coal stored in the convent basement, completely destroyed the building; the roof collapsed, and two hours later, nothing but steel girders and the chimney were left. 

Neighbours were awakened by the explosion; Rhéal Rainville helped a number of sisters escape and witnessed the death of Father Richard Ward. Lorne Barber entered the building and tried to force his way into the bedrooms as he heard nuns calling for help. 

There were fifteen casualties: the two young flying officers, the chaplain, 11 Grey Nuns, and a cook. 

The cause of the collision was never confirmed, but the RCAF had stated that there was likely a malfunction of the flying officers’ oxygen systems, causing both to lose consciousness.

In 2009, local veterans and community members commemorated the event with a memorial on the crash site, featuring a 20-foot cross adorned with an aircraft and 15 stones taken from the rubble of the destroyed building. 

In 1969, the new Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton was created, absorbing the Gloucester and Cumberland townships and the Orléans area. Around this time, the community began on a path of exponential growth, ultimately becoming the diverse and multifaceted Orléans of today. By then, there were about 51,923 residents in Orléans.

In 1970, the Grey Nuns sold a portion of their land to Costain Estates Ltd., a housing developer, clearing the way for more people to call Orléans home. Costain purchased 1,000 acres of land, including the historic Youville farm, and began building what is now Convent Glen.

The police village in Orléans was abolished in 1974, and the community found itself divided between the Gloucester and Cumberland boundaries, losing control over its development. 

The Place d’Orléans shopping centre was established in 1979, with the location chosen to overlap the boundary between Gloucester and Cumberland, and the population exploded.

There were an estimated 6,000 residents in 1971; that number rose to 24,000 ten years later, and by July 1, 2010, the number exceeded 106,000. The population boom transformed land use as farmland was bought by developers, and the community became more familiar with subdivisions than fields. Residents could choose homes with large yards in quiet neighbourhoods, enjoying a quieter lifestyle while remaining close to the downtown core.

By 2001, Orléans was amalgamated into the City of Ottawa.

Since its founding, Orléans has maintained a trajectory of growth. With the construction of neighbourhoods like Queenswood Heights, Convent Glen and Chapel Hill and the addition of major shopping centres and amenities, the community has continued to evolve.

In 2016, 128,281 people were living in Orléans. Of those residents, more than half said they are bilingual in both French and English. The community remains a major hub of Franco-Ontarian culture in Ottawa, with a high concentration of Franchophones and French-language schools and services. It retains its heritage as a francophone village, with French art and culture frequently on display and French often spoken in public and between neighbours.

Nicole Fortier, president of the SFOPHO, said the community still draws strength from the Francophonie of Orléans. According to census data, more than 30 per cent of residents declare French as their first language.

Fortier attributes the success of the local Francophone community to residents' ongoing efforts to keep the language and culture alive.

Since the 1970s, numerous Francophones from Ontario, across Canada, and even from around the world, have settled in Orléans, continuing to enrich the “vitality of the French language and culture.”

“It attracts people interested in joining a lively bilingual and multicultural community, culturally, socially, and economically vibrant, representing in a way a microcosm of our country, Canada.”

Now a largely suburban community, the local economy has shifted, with many residents travelling east to the other parts of Ottawa for work. Tannis Vine, executive director of the Heart of Orléans BIA, says this is part of why local community organizations are advocating for more growth and economic opportunities closer to home.

“Orléans was built on local industry — lumber, agriculture, and a strong sense of community. Today, we have the opportunity to return to that strength in a modern way: creating a place where people can live, work, and invest locally,” Vine told the Lookout. 

Residential growth hasn’t slowed, with multiple ongoing developments currently planned and proposed for Orléans, including a proposal for five buildings offering 1,500 units. 

A Secondary Plan for the Orléans Corridor, the area between Saint-Joseph Boulevard and Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard, aims to bring back a 15-minute community, perhaps similar to the ones that Dupuis, Duford and Laflamme experienced or hoped for in their time. 

The Plan prioritizes density and compact, well-connected neighbourhoods to accommodate the expected population growth, all linked to the Stage 2 LRT expansion. The local BIA is also launching the #WhyNotOrleans initiative to encourage investment and business opportunities closer to home, rather than in the core or other parts of Ottawa.

For Vine, it’s about returning to what Orléans was built on and honouring its legacy of trade, self-sufficiency and community.

“The foundation has always been here,” said Vine. “Now it’s about building the next chapter.”